Discarded Paper Cups
by LadyNobleSong
Summary: When parent/teacher night drags on, Lin and Kuvira end up sharing coffee and bonding a little too well. Modern AU.


**A/N**: Hello, lovelies! This little piece is, once again, inspired by one of Hatty's many -fantastic- Kuvin headcanons. For the sake of this particular story, please keep in mind the following details.  
>Here, Lin is Mako's single mother, whereas Kuvira is Bolin's. Korra, as for her, is being fostered by Pema and Tenzin. Zhu Li, somehow, is everyone's teacher.<p>

I hope you enjoy this; don't hesitate to leave a comment if you do!  
>Wil. x<p>

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Legend of Korra; if I did, there would be even more Beifongs running around.

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><p><span><strong>Discarded Paper Cups<strong>

'I got you some coffee,' Lin said absentmindedly as she sat back on her chair, by Kuvira's side. 'Looks like we could well be there for a while longer.'

'Thank you,' the younger woman replied, pleasantly surprised at the unexpected gesture. 'I wonder what's taking them so long, frankly.'

Lin nodded, taking a sip from her own cup. 'I can't believe I'm missing fencing for this,' she whined, leaning back into her seat with a roll of her eyes. 'They end up telling us the same thing every year, anyway.'

Kuvira suddenly turned towards the older woman; her face lightened up, and shot her a toothy grin. 'Wait a second- fencing?'

'What about it?'

'I fence, too,' Kuvira replied rapidly, gesturing at herself. 'Helps me take my mind off things- work, kids, all that jazz.'

'I know what you mean,' Lin said, mirroring her interlocutor's smile with one of her own. 'I find sparring is the only way for me to truly relax. A friend of mine suggested taking yoga classes a while ago, but it's just not my thing.'

Kuvira took another sip of coffee before answering, imperceptibly shuffling a little closer to Lin as she did.

'Yoga, really?' she snorted. 'No wonder it didn't work on you. We need something more- _aggressive_, you and I, especially with jobs like ours.'

'I'll drink to that,' Lin jested back, clinking her cardboard cup with Kuvira's.

Both women settled back into their respective chairs, silently enjoying one another's company, while keeping an absentminded eye on both Bolin, and Mako, who seemed engaged in a rather animated conversation with Wu

A little further along the corridor, a door suddenly flew open, and the young teacher everyone had been expecting finally emerged from the classroom, her glasses slightly askew. She shot the cluster of impatient parents an apologetic look, joining her hands together.

'I deeply apologise for the delay,' she declared quietly, nervously brushing inexistent creases off her mauve blazer. 'Mr Sato, Miss Sato, if you would both please follow me inside?' she added, gesturing to the room she had just exited.

A few seats away from Kuvira, a middle-aged man slowly rose to his feet, taking his teenage daughter by the shoulder and leading her towards the door. Meanwhile, the previous student was just stepping out of the electrically-lit office, hands on hips, an expression of utter irritation plastered over her face.

Lin, however, didn't miss the way the latter's frown softened visibly, as soon as her gaze fell upon her long-haired classmate. The rest of the world may have been utterly oblivious to it, but there was definitely something going on there, the silver-haired woman realised with a small smile.

Tenzin appeared shortly after Korra, vigorously shaking the teacher's hand as he thanked her profusely. The young woman's expression remained utterly unreadable, but Lin would have sworn that, from the way she kept clenching her jaw, she was struggling to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the worried father.

'-well aware that Korra may be a difficult student to deal with at times, which is why we both truly appreciate your understanding of our situation, Miss Zhu Li.'

'Do not worry, sir, I have dealt with similar students many times in the past; I'm sure we'll manage to come to a viable compromise shortly,' she blurted out in a mechanical way, whilst attempting to discreetly lead her interlocutor further into the corridor.

Kuvira turned to Lin, raising a mocking eyebrow as she designated the blabbering man with a small bob of her head. Only then did she notice the other woman's demeanour had altered visibly - she was clutching at her paper cup much tighter than before, and her shoulders seemed utterly tensed.

'Something the matter?' she inquired hesitantly.

'Nothing,' Lin replied a touch too fast. 'Just- never mind.'

'Are you sure you're alright?' Kuvira insisted, refusing to drop the issue quite so fast.

'I'm fine,' Lin answered sharply. 'That's my ex,' she added bluntly, after a beat, discreetly gesturing towards Tenzin. 'That's all.'

'Oh, I see. Bad break-up, I take it?'

Lin turned towards Kuvira, determined to glare at her threateningly, yet her anger seemed to melt away as soon as she met the younger woman's gaze. There was no mockery in her eyes, just genuine curiosity. Besides, Lin _had _enjoyed the latter's company thoroughly throughout the course of the evening; there was no reason to make a scene now, especially over something so futile.

'Sort of,' she replied bitterly. 'You'll understand in a minute.'

Just as she spoke, a much younger woman exited the classroom, hurrying along to catch up with her husband, before linking her arm with his promptly.

'You're kidding,' Kuvira whispered at Lin, her eyes widening. 'Is that-'

'His wife? Yes, that's Pema,' Lin replied, crossing her arms under her chest. 'Don't get me wrong though- she's not that bad at all.'

'She's certainly very young,' Kuvira said after a moment. 'They make an odd couple, if you ask me.'

'You don't have to spare my feelings, you know.'

'I'm not trying to,' the younger woman responded matter-of-factly, and Lin felt herself smile despite herself. 'Not to mention, she doesn't have a thing on you,' she added without looking up, taking another sip of coffee.

Lin let out a snort, leaning towards Kuvira with a dubious smile.

'Well- thanks.'

As the couple slowly made its way towards where both women were seated, Lin suddenly let out a low sigh, looking down at her cup.

'Damn it, they're coming this way, aren't they?' she asked in between clenched teeth.

Kuvira narrowed her eyes at the pair- it seemed Lin was right. She nodded.

'I'm really not in the mood to hear Tenzin ramble about his wonderful kids for another hour or so,' the older woman sighed, rubbing her eyes with her palms.

'That sure sounds tedious,' Kuvira agreed. 'Alright, follow my lead.'

'What are you-' Lin began, frowning, only to be interrupted by Kuvira's hand on her knee, giving it a brief squeeze.

'Trust me. And close your eyes.'

'I don't-'

'Now,' Kuvira whispered, catching Lin's wrist with one hand, whilst the other flew to her face, cupping her cheek gently.

Before Lin had a chance to realise what was happening, Kuvira's lips were upon hers, soft yet insistent. The older woman gasped, her eyes shutting on their own accord, as her own mouth began responding to the kiss tentatively. Then, Kuvira wrapped Lin's hand around her own waist, shuffling closer into her lap as the older woman pulled her forward instinctively.

After a couple seconds, Lin's lips slipped apart, a subtle invitation for Kuvira to deepen the kiss, which the latter seized boldly, within a split second. When their urgent tongues eventually met, Lin accidentally let out a strangled, throaty moan; she let her hand tangle itself within the younger woman's tousled curls, pulling at her scalp ever so slightly.

'I think they're gone now,' Kuvira then muttered against Lin's lips, pressing her forehead against hers.

Reluctantly, the latter loosened her embrace a little, leaning away from Kuvira after dropping an eventual, feather-like kiss upon the younger woman's reddened lips. They both settled back to their original sitting positions, exchanging brief, crooked smiles, and Kuvira couldn't help but notice how Lin's shoulder still seemed to remain purposefully pressed against hers.

Lin briefly glanced around: it somehow seemed as if no one had paid any particular attention to Kuvira's spontaneous little diversion –their boys were, thankfully, nowhere to be seen- with the exception of Pema and Tenzin, who had now reached the opposite end of the corridor, and seemed to be speaking in hushed, hurried voices, glancing nervously behind them every so often.

For some unexplainable reason, Lin found herself grinning at the thought of having just provided them with quite a scandalous rumor to discuss. She turned back towards Kuvira, who had begun sipping her coffee again, utterly unfazed.

'Well- that certainly was, um- nice, although unexpected,' Lin stuttered, while pulling at her cuticles absentmindedly.

'It was,' Kuvira replied simply, glancing at the wall in front of her. 'Also, it _did _spare you a tediously mundane conversation.'

'So, um, would you consider- I mean, how about we-' Lin attempted to continue.

'Drinks?' Kuvira suddenly suggested, thus charitably rescuing Lin from her own babbling. 'You and I,' she looked down at her watch for added effect, 'about now? First round's on me. Besides,' she added, pointing to the door with her chin, 'there's no point on waiting for them any longer. As you said, they tell us the exact same litany every year.'

Lin, pleasantly startled, could only nod as she was being pulled to her feet by Kuvira's determined grip on her wrist.

'Good- I thought you'd never ask,' Kuvira added playfully, winking at Lin before nudging her shoulder gently. 'I'll go tell the kids the rest of the evening's theirs.'


End file.
